Seed planter



March 12, 1935.

H. J. MCDONOUGH SEED PLANTER Filed Oct. 23, 1955 b 1,1,1, lillllltn 1iNvENToR if. cZM-Dono WITNESSES W )k/M UNITED PATENT OFFICE y p p'-1',994,196- y. TSIEED PLANTER v I t k Henry J. McDonbugh, Modena, Wis.

Application Octoberf 23, 1 93, ;fseiiat No. 694,868

10 cl ims. 7 (o1.'ii fetf 7' This invention relates to improvementsinseed tition 2 on the side of the Compartment 3. Its planters, and itsobjects are as follows:-'-' end nextto the opening 8 is'feathered at10,the First, to provide a hand-operated'planter-for rounding or'b'evelling which produces the teasprouted seeds, which planter has aspecial'rubtheir makin the d fl b e nbllgh o t the 5 her or othersoft-material gate construction likelihoodof inju y the kernels fl p hi5 which will not injure the sprouts or crush the passin 't rou h the opin 8*i duced t a kernels. 1 minimum.

Second, to combine a cut-off disc and gauge'in The gauge 9 is backedrtby a; S de member 11 said gate construction, said disc and gauge be-Which is adjustable longitudinally he C0111- 10 ing composed of rubberfor the' purpose tat d, partment 3 as at 12. V The slide member has an10' Third, to set the gauge for various sizes and; upstanding Plate 13With at least tWO'DTOHgS shapes of seeds, the means for doing the settinonjthe i next to the gauge 9 to impale t e comprising an adjustableslide member which ll "The'prihciplle oft9111llfitlflflelflt isto'iohsen.

v has a degree of spring tension to insure its grip p a IZQ'mOVB theShae member 11th the right, on the rubber substance of the' au e, is hage, the gauge 9 from h p 14 and 15 Fourth t so embody t operatinghandle set the gauge to a new position with respectto with the dischargetube as t enable working the Opening The position should r. seed'gate onthe hopper as well as other parts of enlarge reduce the adjustable Partof t the planter with the natural motion of thrusting openinglas m i e ii I th oint int th ground; V i Thereafter the slide 11 moved back sothat 2 Fifth, to provide a seeder with which empty the prongs '14 rip anew p ace e au e 9, places in'the row can be filled out with sproutedW-hereupdn the adjustment is-agam tightened-t seeds from a position ofthe 'riding'cultivaton upstanding P1913813 a dfigree of resil- In thedrawing, i y iency, andthis insures its grip on the gauge 9 Figure 1 isa perspective view of the imprbv and would insurea grip even though'theprongs 25 V the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

5eed p1a,nter V v 14 were broken oii. A flange 15a1ongthe lower Figure Zis a central section taken on the line Side 51 Slide memberbethreinforces a 2-2 of Figure 1 i member and aids inldirecting theseeds toward" Figure 3 is adetail vertical section'taken on the Opening8" 5 t v i On thegothe'r side of the partition 2 there is a Figure 4 icross Section taken on t f n cut olf member consisting'of a'disc 16 alsomade 4 .4 of Figure I V I i V V of rubber or other soft material,backedupiby'a Figure 5 is a detailperspective view of the cutmetal:Plate 'T .diSc 16150111; 01115111 one Place ofidisctand t connectedltmp(10013 y to provide afseed pocket18; This pocket nor- The improved seedplanter is particularly inmany communicates Wi the opening 3 b t is 2 5tended for planting sprouted seed corn. 'Howi 0h the'side of thedischarge Compartment ever, itsuse is not confined to that purpose beh?the Ih k w h ds dow cause other kindsof seeds-may be planted by it, e?FL ,3 57} he a g h -cu there being a gauge which can be set for variousoff member are herein known as a gate construe 40 sizes and shapes ofseeds. tion inasmuchas they coact with the opening 8- At th top of theplanter there is ahopper 1 ii t ist a e fo seeds'frhmthe pp r come whichis divided crosswise by a partition ;2' (Fig. P r m 1 1 3 3) to providestorage and discharge compart- In d itio t its backing function the P 17ments' 3, 4. Upon sliding the cover 5 back a also pr vides a stiff m untf th ub e disc little way the compartment 3 can be loaded with 16 on'ashaft 19. The plate ispreferably secured" 5 seeds. This cover has afinger-piece 6 by which to the shaft so that the shaft turns whentheplate it is conveniently pulled and pushed, and a" snap is turned. Theends of the shaft have bearing in arrangement 7 which removably holds.the cover the partition 2 andin theladjacent ep zo of the in place. ihopper 1.7 Itcarries; a coiled spring 21 which An opening a in thesubstantial bottom of the tends to' turn the ise'i's to" the n m h ti nso partition 2 provides for the passageof seeds one which is hereinregarded asthat position which by one from the compartment 3 to theoompart--. the seed'pochet 18 communicates with the openment 4. The sizeof the opening is adjustable ing 8;; Theeh s'of he sprineare hookedagainst by a gauge 9. This is madeof rubber ornother a"projection22 onthe plate 17 (Fig. 5 and suitable soft material, and lies against thepar against a flange on the end 20. i I 5 Turning motion for thedischarge of seeds is caused by pushing downwardly on an operatinghandle 23 (Figs. 1 and 2). This handle is gripped simultaneously withgripping the upper end of the discharge tube 24 by which the seeds aredirected to a hole in the ground. This hole is made by theground-penetrating end of the tube shown in the form of a point 25 whenWielding the planter somewhat on the order of a person going along witha walking stick and pushing the pointed end into the ground a shortdistance at intervals.

The handle 23 is connected with a rod or wire 26, most of which isconfined to the inside of the tube 24. The upper end of it goes through.a hole. 27 (Fig. 2) in the bottom of the. compartment 4 and is bent atright angles at 28' (Fig. 5)" to make a crank connection with thecut-off; disc, 16 and.

its metal backing 17. A downward push Oflthe. handle 23 (arrow a) in thenatural motion of wielding the planter is imparted to. therod 26 whichturns the cut-off disc in the clockwise di-. rection (arrow 12, Fig. 2).The clockwise turning of the cut-01f disc in Figure'2 'wou1d be acounterclockwise turning of it in Figure 4, and imagining a seed to haveentered the pocket 18 it is readily seen that the seed will be carriedto one side; of the discharge compartment to be dropped through anopening 29. M

This opening communicates with a seed trap 30. This comprises a throatat the upper endof the tube 24. It includes a trap door 31 which isnormally open. This door coacts with a release door 312st the lower endof the tube. Thisdoor is normallyclosed so that a seed; S (Fig.2)discharged by the opening of the door 31 will be entrapped adjacent tothe point 25, inreadiness for the next planting.

A link 33 connects thB-CutrQfi disc 16 with; the trap door 31 Thislinkis loopedat 4il1Q' 1eQeiVe a. p 5 pr e tin om. e utis p p 6 t r a lsu por s th t n or in the trap 30. A spring; 3'7 wound on part of this pn i so a e as to a waystend to turn the,

A door 31 clockwise (arrowc, Fig, 2 intoa closns p sition in the bottom.iths. r p.

' position because oi its bein hecksdp y the ngagement of the bottom ofthe loop 34 -w ith the Din 35 Whenthe disc...16:0f-;the gatenonstrnction9., 1.6. isturned lo kwi e to: aseed-releasine. p s tion, (arrow Big-.the. p nfidtends;.tdslin'unr, wardlyd the lo p 31 i whereup n:thadoortli l ws in th closin nositionby ir ue o e spr n ssu e hin t. he;ink; 33 1. 9. 3

pin 35 would simply ride; upwardly in theloop- 34 Wlthout any responseon the part; the? releasing position, thereby making the slip-check" Twoplacesi38 are bent outwardly irom the tatetoward the opening 8. Asvacant places are spotted in the row the operator will. push the point25' into the ground until limited by the gauge 45, the act of pushingcausing the handle 23 to slide downwardly (arrow a, Fig. 2 This turnsthe cut-oif disc 16 clockwise (arrow 1), Fig.

2), closesv the trap door 31 (arrow 0) and opens the release door 32(arrow d).

. The seed S'previously deposited at the bottom of the tube 24 isdischarged into the hole in the ground formed partly by the point 25 andthe p hmsamii n ine; ac o o e. d o 3 seed discharged from thepocket; 18by the action of the cut-01f disc 16. caught and temporarily interceptedthe seed trap 30- by the nowclosed door .31. Whenthe planter is againliftedfrom the ground all of v the parts naturallyreturn to their normalpositions by virtue of the various. spring actions, the seedtemporarily. entrapped, at

30 then falling to the bottom of the tube where, it 7 is .held by the.door 32 readinessior the next operation.

Should the trap :door 31 get out of order by sticking in the. openposition theplanter couldbe worked, nevertheless, in that case each,seed; as

dischargedbythe pocket 18 will ,falldirectly to,

the bottom. of the tube 24 and into the hole in actionto temporarilyintercept the. seed; 1 I I Mention, has been; made of thepossibility ofI the door 31 becoming disordered. This is aremote possibility, but incase iof a breakageor a clogging of the trap 30, the back wall 4'7ismadeinthe form of-a'rem'ovableplate which is hooked in at 48 andsecured by a single bolt andnut- 49'.

Iclaim:-

1. Aseed planter comprising a seed storage compartment and a'discharg'ei tube havin'g a ground-penetrating end, a gate'constructionto' controlthe passage'of seeds from the compartment tothetubefsaidconstruction including a cut-oiimember, means comprising atrap and and tube,- m'eanstendin'g to" close the trapdoor;

and slip-check means between-the trapdoor and" gate constructionpreventing saidtendency while the cut-off member is in oneposition}-'and-means-' including a trapdoor between the compartment bywhichto move thecut off'memberto a'seedmeans yield to the trap door.closing means when pushing the tube end into-the-ground and at thedoorat the point, and means operable simultaneously with pushing the pointinto the-ground to cause simultaneous operation of the gateconstruction, the trap door andthe release door.

3. A seed planter comprising a seed storage compartment and a dischargetube having a point, means comprising a trap'between the compartment andtube, said trap including a trap door which has means tending to closeit, a gate construction to control the passage of seeds from thecompartment to the trap, said construction including a cut-off member,and means coupled with said member holding the trap door open, a releasedoor at the point and means holding it closed, and means operablesimultaneously with pushing the point into the ground causing operationof said member and a reversal of position of the doors.

4. A seed planter comprising a hopper, a partition dividing the hopperinto seed storage and-discharge compartments, said partition having anopening, a discharge tube in communication with the dischargecompartment, a disc of soft material in the discharge compartment havinga pocket registrable with the opening, means to movably support thedisccomprising a shaft mounted in the discharge compartment and a -metalbacking plate on the side of the disc remote from the partitionproviding an outside closure for the pocket, and means to move the discfor the discharge of an entrapped seed in its pocket to the tube, saidmeans including a wire with a crank end attached to the backing plate.

5. A seed planter comprising a hopper, a dividing partition with a seedopening, a cut-off disc of soft material on one side of the partitionand having a seed pocket registrable with the opening, a backing plateon the side of the disc remote from the partition closing that side ofthe pocket, means to movably support the disc upon the partition, meanscomprising a trap communicable with the pocket and including a movabledoor, actuating means to turn the disc and register the pocket with thetrap, and means by which motion of the trap door follows the turning ofthe disc, one of the last two means being connected with the backingplate.

6. A seed planter comprising a hopper, an attached discharge tube havingat least one slot,

a gate construction by which the discharge of seeds is controlled fromthe hopper into the tube, said construction including a cut-off member,means by which said member is operated in the motion of pushing an endof the tube into the ground, said means comprising a rod attached to apart of the member and provided opening, means impaling the gauge to setits adjusted positions, and means by which the impaling means isadjustablyattached to the hopper.

8. A seed planter comprising a hopper, a partition in the hopper havingan opening, a pocketed cut-off disc on one side of the partition, a softrubber gauge on the other side of the partition, a slide and means bywhich it can be adjusted to enable setting the gauge with respect to theopening, and an upstanding plate on the slide hearing against the gaugeand having prongs to impale it.

9. A planter for sprouted seed comprising a hopper, a partition having aseed opening, means on one side of the partition to take away singleseeds admitted through the opening, and a gauge on the other side of thepartition to adjust one dimension of the opening, said gauge being madeof soft material and having a feathered end adjacent to the opening toinsure flexibility.

10. A seed planter comprising a tube having a seed hopper at one end andadapted to have its other end penetrate the ground, a handle located onthe side of the tube and means by which it is slidably attached to thetube so as to slide up and down along the tube when wielding theplanter, a gate construction situated between the hopper and the tube,said construction including a cut-off member, and a connection betweenthe handle and said member working the latter to periodically releaseseeds as the handle is slid.

HENRY J. MCDONOUGH.

